G.R. No. 136467, 6 April 2000, 330 SCRA 201

FACTS:

On April 1992, Teodorico died intestate leaving parcel of land with an estimated value of P 604,750 Teodorico was survived by his wife respondent Marietta Calisterio. Teodorico was second husband of Marietta who had previously been married to James William Bounds on 13 January 1946 at Caloocan City. Teodorico and Mariettta were married eleven years later without court declaration that James presumptively dead. On October 9, 1992 petitioner Antonia Armas y Calisterio a surviving sister of Teodorico, filed a petition entitled “ In matter of Intestate Estate of the decease Teodorico Calisterio, claiming to be inter alia, the sole surviving heir of Teodorico Calisterio, the marriage between the latter and the respondent Marietta being bigamous and thereby null and void. On January 17, 1996, the lower court handed down its decision in favor of petitioner Antonia. On appeal the Court of Appeal rendered decision in favor of Marietta declaring her marriage to Teodorico valid and entitling her to estate of Teodorico.

ISSUE:

Whether the marriage of Marietta between the decease Teodirico valid that in turn would determine her right as surviving spouse.

HELD:

It remained undisputed that the respondent Marietta’s first husband, James William Bounds, had been absent or had disappeared for more than eleven years before she entered into a second marriage in 1958 with the decease Teodorico Calisterio. This second marriage, having been contracted during the regime of the Civil Code, should thus be deemed valid notwithstanding the absence of a judicial declaration of presumptive death of James Bounds.

The conjugal property of Teordorico and Marietta, no evidence having been adduced to indicate another property regime between the spouses, pertains to them in common. Upon its dissolution with the death of Teodorico, the property should rightly be divided in two equal portions – one portion to the estate of the deceased spouse. The successional right in intestacy of a surviving spouse over the net estate of the decease, concurring with the legitimate bothers and sisters on nephews and nieces ( the latter by right of representation ), is one-half of the inheritance, the brothers and sisters or nephews and nieces, being entitled to the other half.

*Case digest by AG Himang, LLB-IV, Andres Bonifacio College Law School, SY 2018-2019